The present invention relates to a terrestrial solar cell generator whose solar cells are arranged to be protected against adverse environmental influences.
The conversion of light into electrical energy has been known for many years and has been used with preference for the generation of energy for satellites and spacecraft. For terrestrial use the costs involved were too high. However, the energy crises of the recent past has resulted in renewed consideration concerning the possible use of solar cells for terrestrial use.
Thus it has become known to use solar cells to charge batteries for radio and navigation instruments on board ships. In planning and in part reduced to practice is the supplying of electric current to locations which are rather inaccessible and which could be supplied with current less expensively by solar batteries, than by dry cell batteries, fuel cells or specially laid electrical cables.
A known solar cell generator for terrestrial use includes a box-shaped housing. The solar cells, which are arranged on a printed circuit board and are soldered thereto, are disposed on the bottom of the housing where they are electrically insulated. The cells are encased in a transparent plastic such as silicone rubber and are covered with an additional protective cover glass. The electrical connection is disposed on the underside of the bottom surface of the housing. This solar cell generator is relatively heavy and very expensive to produce.
The periodical "Elektronik Journal", 1974, Issue No. 8, pages 28 and 29, indicates that the solar cell generator can be accommodated in a housing which is made of a glass fiber reinforced epoxy resin and encased in an elastic plastic, e.g. silicone rubber or the like. Such an installation of the solar cells is also not without problems since there will always be thermomechanical stresses due to the different materials employed, which stresses would lead to separation of the solar cells and the encapsulant Moreover, all encapsulants used thus far are not resistant to ultraviolet radiation, i.e., they become cloudy or dull, and thus reduce the energy output.